Wheel-alignment indicator



Oct. 9, 1928.

H. A. BUCKERT ET AL WHEEL ALIGNMENT INDICATOR Filed May 12. 1926 baa151v P flown? A. flue/151?? 6 Patented Oct. 9, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HOMER A. BUCKERT, OF ST. LOUIS, AND EARL K. HALL, OF UNIVERSITY CITY,MISSOURI.

WHEEL-ALIGNMENT INDICATOR.

Application filed May 12, 1926. Serial No. 108,506.

Our invention relates to improvements in wheel alignment indicators,and' has for its primary object a device which will indicate themisalignment of wheels which has been caused by the bending of the axleor other means which either toes in or toes out the wheel.

A furtherobject is to construct a device which will indicate thedirection in which the wheel is out of alignment. Our device isapplicable for aligning wheels either front or rear on motor vehiclesand can also be used to advantage in aligning wheels on railway trucksand the like.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of our device showing a pair of wheels, oneof. which is bent out of alignment in position thereon;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3 -3 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

In the construction of our device we employ a movable or swinging memberor arm 5 which is preferably in the shape of a channel although adifferent construction of arm may be used so as to adapt it to varioustypes of wheels. One end of this channel is turned downward as indicatedb the numeral 6 so as to permit a wheel to ri e up thereon readily. Onthe underside of the swinging member or arm and preferably near the end6 is a plate 7 which forms part of a turn table. Secured to the floor inany well known manner is a plate 8 which has mounted thereon a plate 9and between the plates 7 and 9 are located bearing balls or rollers 10.This is for the purpose of permitting the turn table to swing or movereadily and without undue friction so that the swinging arm can move tothe right or left. The purpose of this movement will be explained indetail later.

A stud 11 is emplo ed to hold the plates 7 and 9 in position. A jacentthe forward end 12 of the swinging member or arm we secure anti-frictionsupports 13which are preferably in the form of rollers although othersupports, such as bearing balls or the like, can

be used without departing from the spirit of our invention. The swingingarm 5 is preferably provided on its underside with a st ffening rib 14so that it will not bend readily when any weight is placed thereon.

Adjacent the end 12 and secured to the floor is a gauge 15 which isprovided with a plurality of equidistant graduations commencing withzero for the central mark and being numbered consecutively to the rightand left thereof. The movable arm 5 is also provided with an indicatingfinger 16 which has a projecting point, this point being preferably bentdownward as indicated in Fig. 2 so as to bring it in close proximity tothe gauge 15 thereby rendering the reading of the indication to theright or left of the zero on the gauge more easy. Where the channel ironis employed, the sides 17 prevent the wheel from running therefrom.

In Fig. 1 18 represents an axle, 19 and 20 the wheels carried by theaxle and in order to render the explanation of the device more clear,the wheel 20-is shown out of alignment to such a marked degree as tobe'readily discernible. In actual practice it is desirable to mark aline 21 on the floor at a distance equal to the tread of the vehiclefrom the center of the pivot or stud 11. This line 21 is parallel to astraight line drawn through the center of the stud or pin 11 and thezero point on the gauge. This construction is suitable for aligningwheels either front or back on automobiles and serves as a guide for oneof the wheels. The line 21 may also be placed on the other side or tothe right of the swinging arm so that either of the wheels may beproperly gauged. In lining car wheels and the like, a groove 1s providedinstead of the line 21 in which the flange of the wheel rides and,instead of using a wide channel as illustrated in the drawings for theswinging arm, a narrow channel is used so that it will just fit theflange of the wheel.

The operation of our device is as follows: When there is reason tosuspect that the wheels of a vehicle are out of alignment, thisdescription being drawn to a motor vehicle having rubber tires, thevehicle is first placed with the suspected wheels in such a positionthat one of the wheels will rest in the swinging arm adjacent the pivotpoint, the other wheel being located on the guide line. The vehicle isthen moved forward, maintaining the one wheel on the guide line. Then ifthe wheel is toed inward at the forward edge as illustrated in Fig. 1,it will have a tendency to crowd toward the wheel 19. The friction ofthe wheel 19, however, on the floor is sufficient to overcome anyfriction on the swinging arm. This will cause the arm'to move toward theleft of the zero mark as illustrated in Fig. 1 indicating that the wheeltoes in at its forward point. The amount of this toeing in can bereadily arrived at by comparing the length of the arm, the circumferenceof the wheel, and the amount of deflection past the center or zeropoint. If the wheel 20 were bent or toed outwardly at its forward part,the tendency would be for it to run away from the wheel 19 and thuscause the arm 5 to swing toward the left, the finger 16 indicating thedeflection. In this way it is possible to detect misalignment of thewheels which would not ordinarily be caught by the eye when the vehicleis running and which, in motor vehicles using rubber tires, causes anexcessive wear on the tires and also consumes great power. This excesswear can not at times be explained because the misalignment of thewheels is so slight, as before stated, as not to be readily discernibleto the eye but it will show itself up very clearly in excessive wear onthe tires or treads of the wheels.

Our device can also be used to great advantage in aligning wheels onrailway trucks as the misalignment there will cause excessive wear onboth the flanges of the wheel and on the rail ball. Our device will takecare and show up any misalignment of wheels whether caused throughcollisions, which will spring only a portion of the axle, or due tosprung axles in general which may be caused by various accidents such assuddenly dropping a heavy load on the axle or by suddenly striking someobstruction during the driving of the vehicle. 1

It will furthermore point out just in what direction the wheel is out ofalignment and the amount of the misalignment thereby saving considerabletime and labor in re-aligning the wheels.

Having fully described our invention, what we claim is 1. A wheelalignment indicator comprising an elongated horizontally swinging memberpivoted at one end and having upturned longitudinal ed es, said memberadapted to be moved by t e thrust of a misaligned wheel, an indicatingfinger carried by said finger at one end, and a graduated gauge locatedbelow the projecting end of said finger whereby the amount of movementof said arm can be ascertained.

2. A wheel alignment indicator comprising an elongated horizontallyswinging member having its longitudinal edges upturned and adapted to bemoved by the thrust of a misaligned wheel, a pivoted anti-frictionsupport for one end of said member, an antifriction support for theopposite end of said member so that said end can move freely, a gaugelocated below the freely moving end of said member, and means carried bysaid freely moving end adapted to co-operate with said gauge whereby theamount of movement and its direction can be ascertained.

In testimony whereof we have afiixedour signatures.

HOMER A. BUCKERT. EARL K. HALL.

